A total of 1,717 COVID-19 cases were reported in Massachusetts schools in the last week.
That total includes 1,345 student cases and 372 staff cases.
The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released the numbers Thursday in its weekly COVID-19 report, which covers March 3-9.
This week's report had fewer cases than the last report's total of 3,084, which included two weeks of data. It's a slight increase over the weekly average in the prior report, but students were on February vacation during part of that period.
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New cases in schools have generally trended downward since Jan. 13, when 48,414 were reported. Before then, they were on a sharp climb through the onset of the omicron variant and the holiday season.
The new cases reported Thursday represent 0.15% of students and 0.26% of workers in Massachusetts schools.
Massachusetts' statewide school mask mandate ended last week, leaving each district to decide on its own whether facial coverings would be required.
Boston's mask mandate for indoor public spaces ended Saturday, and the city's public health state of emergency will be lifted April 1, but masks are still required in the city's public schools.
The total number of positive COVID-19 cases reported by the DESE takes into account school districts (including charter schools), collaboratives, and approved special education schools. The data only represents what has been reported to the state.
The state had stopped publicly reporting the school data in mid-June as school was winding down and cases were dropping. The report on June 16, 2021, included only 53 new cases in students and 5 among school staff.
